Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 23
पंक्तिभेदस्य कर्ता च गोसहस्रवधः स्मृतः । वृत्तिभागविभजनं तथा न्यायविचारणम् । श्रीरामदूतकस्याग्रे कर्त्तव्यमिति निश्चयः
paṃktibhedasya kartā ca gosahasravadhaḥ smṛtaḥ | vṛttibhāgavibhajanaṃ tathā nyāyavicāraṇam | śrīrāmadūtakasyāgre karttavyamiti niścayaḥ
Celui qui brise la ligne du repas (la communion sociale) est tenu pour l’égal du tueur de mille vaches. Le partage des moyens d’existence et des parts, ainsi que l’examen de la justice, doivent assurément se faire en présence du messager de Śrī Rāma (Hanumān).
Deductive: Sūta (narrating dharma rules) introducing Hanumān as witness/guardian of righteous judgment
Tirtha: Śrī Rāma-dūta (Hanumān) sannidhi
Type: temple
Scene: A village/city assembly meets before a Hanumān shrine: elders seated in a semicircle, offerings at Hanumān’s feet; a scribe records shares; disputants stand with folded hands; Hanumān’s image presides as witness.
FAQs
Social harmony and truthful justice are sacred; violating communal order is a grave sin, while righteous decisions should be made under divine witness (Hanumān).
No specific location is named; the verse sacralizes the act of justice itself by placing it before Hanumān (Śrī Rāma’s dūta).
A devotional-legal prescription: conduct distribution of shares and judicial deliberations in the presence of Hanumān (as a sanctifying witness).